In the presence of Minister of Science Konrad Wolf, Prof. Dr. Gerhard Muth, President of Mainz University of Applied Sciences, signed the new target agreements on June 25, 2019, to continue the research initiative through 2023.
Mainz University of Applied Sciences’ strength lies in application-oriented research and development. In the future, research activities will be grouped into the following focus areas: “Spatial Information and Measurement Technology,” “Innovative Technologies and Applications in Business and Society,” “Information Technologies in the Humanities, Design, and Media,” as well as the emerging area of “Digital Planning and Manufacturing.” In particular, the university’s unique selling points will be expanded in the following research fields: “3D Measurement Technology,” “Information Technologies with Applications in the Humanities, Design, and Media,” as well as “Digital Applications in Business and Society” and “Digital Planning and Manufacturing.”
“In doing so, we will continue to focus on the targeted integration of individually operating research areas and work to raise our profile by setting priorities and fostering interdisciplinary networking within our university,” said Prof. Dr.-Ing. Gerhard Muth, President of Mainz University of Applied Sciences. “This will allow us to develop and establish further key areas of expertise in important fields of research and application. In addition, Mainz University of Applied Sciences aims to maintain and strengthen its strong collaboration with industry, academia, museums, and public institutions. We are using the funding from the Ministry to strategically shape our university’s research profile in the region.”
Since 2010, the Ministry of Science, Continuing Education, and Culture (MWWK) has provided annual funding of €365,000 to support measures aimed at developing and establishing these areas of focus and potential. Through the continuation of this research initiative, Mainz University of Applied Sciences will receive approximately 1.64 million euros by the end of 2023.
A success story illustrating this collaborative exchange is the interdisciplinary robotics laboratory “Robolab,” whose equipment was acquired thanks to generous funding from the Carl Zeiss Foundation. The following examples demonstrate that the robotics laboratory has made it possible to carry out interesting projects.
Spatial Object “Individual Motion Space”:
The design was created using a virtual reality application developed at Mainz University of Applied Sciences, which allows users to create individually designed spaces through their own body movements. The object was then manufactured in the Robolab using a milling robot and planar sheet materials. The “EndoFrame” project, developed from this work in collaboration with a Mainz-based company, is now receiving funding for two years from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi, Central Innovation Program for SMEs – ZIM) to implement concrete applications for innovative interior design.
Spatial Information and Measurement Technology for Orthopedics:
Application-oriented research, such as the research project with an orthopedic manufacturer—also funded by the BMWi (ZIM)—led to the development of a digitization tool for the complete and precise three-dimensional capture of body models and assistive devices. This now makes it possible to manufacture orthopedic assistive devices using digitally supported 3D measurement technology processes. The advantage lies in the improved quality of orthopedic care through individually customized orthoses and prostheses, which results in greater comfort for patients.
Since the summer of 2008, this research initiative has strengthened the competitiveness of the four state universities in Rhineland-Palatinate—and, since the fall of 2010, the seven state universities of applied sciences—in their efforts to attract staff, secure investments, and obtain third-party funding. The Ministry of Science’s strategy, which focuses on structural development, promotes existing research priorities at the universities and supports their autonomous development of institutional profiles.
